Electrotype mold and process of producing the same



c. 1,490,277 AP? 15! J. KN

ELECTROTYPE MOLD AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed April 15. 19222 Sheets-Sheet 1 H La April 15, 1924.

J. KNITTLE ELECTROTYPE MOLD AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING THE SAME FiledApril 15. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Patented Apr. 15, l l.

JGSEEH KNITTLE, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

ELECTROTYTE MOLD AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING THE SAME.

Application ,filed April 15, 1922. Serial No. 553,274.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrrr KNITTLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectrotype Molds and Processes of Producing the Same; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same. Q

My invention relates to the art of making electrotypes and is directedparticularly to the production of an improved electrotype mold. Theinvention resides both in the improved product and in the process bywhich it is produced. v I

In the old and long established method of producing wax engraved moldsfor making electrotypes, it has been the established practice first toplace a thin coating of wax on a metal face plate, next to produce theimpressions in the wax and then, by a slow and laborious process, tobuild up the body of the wax between the depressions. The depressions inthe wax may be produced by type or by cutting grooves in the wax. Inthis old process, great care must be taken that the grooves ordepressions in the wax be not made or out completely through the wax orto the surface of the metallic face plate, because if this should bedone, then, in the electroplating o eration, thecopper shell of thecompleted e ectrotype would adhere to the metallic face plate and thejob would be spoiled.

My invention makes a radical departure from the above noted old process,and it com sists, in the first place, of the use of a face plate ofplate glass, or other hard siliceous substance. All such substances arenon-conductors of electricity, and copper or other metallic substances,deposited in contact therewith in the electroplating process, will notadhere thereto, which latter noted feature is of the utmost importancein connection with my invention.

The surface ofthe glass face plate should be ground, sanded, orotherwise slightly roughened to prepare the same for the wax bed. Greatdiificulty will be found in making wax. properly adhere to glasssurfaces. In the first place, wax must be of a proper character and theground or sanded surface of the glass should be treated with a coatingthat will cause the wax bed to firmly adhere to the glass. After muchexperimentation, I have practically solved this problem by the use of awax bed approximately in the proportions of two ounces of 020 compoundto one pound ofozokerite wax, and by the use of a glass coatingconsisting of approximately six parts of 020 compound to one part ofozokerite. The latter noted mixture, to wit, the coating material, willbe brushed or sprayed in a thin coating over the grounded surface of theglass face plate, and on this coating, when the latter has dried, thewax bed, one-sixteenth inch more or less in thickness, will be applied.The glass face plate should be warm when the coating is applied andshould also be warm at the time that the Wax body in hot semifluidcondition is applied to the coating.

020 compound and ozokerite are materials that may be purchasedcommercially at almost any drug store and are well known in the trade.While I have, in practice, used the above noted materials inapproximately the proportions stated, I do not, of course, limit myselfspecifically thereto, as the same may be varie The wax bed thus appliedwill be the full depth of the completed mold body. Where type, cuts, orthe like are to be inserted in the electrotype, they may be pressedcompletely through the wax and against the glass face plate. Then, whenthe line rulings are to be used, the grooves may be out completelythrough the wax and against the glass face plate, or against the coatedsurface thereof. 'This, of course, gives perfect alignment of the typeand other characters with the line ruling grooves and is made possibleby the fact that, in the process of electroplating, the accumulatedcopper film or surface will not adhere to said glass plate. With thisprocess, it is important to note that no building up of the wax at anytime is required, and, moreover, the most perfect kind of work can bequickly done, whereas, with the old process, much time was required andthe work was not by any means as perfect as that produced by my improvedprocess. As a concrete illustration, I have produced infifteen-'ininutes a most perfect wax engraved mold, which, by the oldprocess, could not be made in less than from three to four hours andthen would not be as perfect as that produced by my process. Myinvention will be found especially adapted for quickly making waxengraved molds for electrotypes to be used in the production of indexcards, deposit slips, order blanks, record sheets or other ruled orlined forms.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, likecharacters indicate like arts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the glass face plate;

Fig. 2 is an edge elevation showing the glass face plate with thecoating consisting of 020 compound and ozokerite applied thereto, thethickness of the coating being greatly exaggerated for the sake ofclearness; I

Fig. 3 is an edge elevation showing the face plate with the wax bodyapplied thereto;

Fig. 4 is a perspective showing the face plate with the wax body or bedapplied thereto and with certain type and character impressions madetherein;

Fig. 5 is a view partly in elevation and partly in vertical section,showing a galley of type positioned to press the type or charactersthereof through the wax bed and against the plate; v

Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to 5 but with the type form removed;

Fig. 7 is a perspective showing the finished wax bed with the typeimpressions and the line grooves cut' therein;

Fig. 8 is a section on the'line 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a section corresponding to Fig. 8 but showing the copperfacing that has been deposited by the well known electroplating process;v

Fig. 10 shows the completed electrotype applied to a wooden base; and

Fig. 11 is a transverse section on the line 1111 of Fig. 10..

The glass face plateis indicated bythe numeral 12 and its ground faceby. the numeral 13. The thin adhesive coating which is first applied tothe ground face of the plate 12 is indicated by the numeral 14. Thiscoating will be thick enough to level off and make smooth the groundface of the glass plate, and it will very strongly adhere to the groundsurface of said plate. This coating affords a base on which will besecurely anchored the wax bed or body 15. In Figs. 4 and 7, thetype-produced indentations are indicated at 16, while the line rulinggrooves are indicated by the numeral 17, and these, as indicated, willbe pressed or cut down to or substantially to the ground surface oftheglass faceplate; but, of course, not to the bottom of the miniaturepockets formed in the glass by the grinding or sanding thereof. a

It is hereimportant to note that the primary coating applied to theground surface of the glass will completely fill all of the saidminiature pockets and afford a smooth surface against which the type orcuts may bepressed and down to which the line-forming grooves may beout. Of course, the cutting of the line-forming grooves may be performedin any suitable way, but is well adapted to be formed by the customarymachines used for such purposes.

In Fig. 5, the numeral 18 indicates a type form which holds type 19pressed through the wax bed and against the glass plate.

In Figs. 10 and 11, the numeral 20 indicates a copper shell which, bythe electroplating process, has been formed on the engraved wax bed andwhich subsequently, in accordance with the customary practice, has theapplied metallic body 21 of type metal cast against the same and securedto a wooden block 22. Otherwise stated, Figs. 10 and 11 show thecompleted product. Briefly stated, Fig. 7 shows the completed engravedelectrotype mold from which is to be made the electrotype shell 20 shownin Fi s. 10 and 11.

62o compound is an adhesive substance and is adapted, when in liquidform, to be appliedto glass to form a highly efficient adhesiveanchoring base to insure proper adhesion of the wax body or ozokerite tothe glass plate. It is necessary to apply this ozo compound or adhesivebase to the glass only once. When applied to the sanded or groundsurface of glass it fills up and smoothens up the irregular surface andaffords an ideal surface against which to form the electrotype, for theelectrotype will not adhere thereto. Ozo compound is made in accordancewith a secret formula of the G. vC. Dom Supply Company of Cincinnati,and is well known to the trade. 1

The superiority of the above electrotype plate made in accordance withmy invention, must be evident, and moreover, has been thoroughlydemonstrated in practice. 7 After the electrotype shell has been formedon the engraved wax bed and removed therefrom, said wax bed may beremoved, placing the same in hot water; but the hot water will notremove the thin coating from the ground or sanded surface of the glassplate. The term engraved is used in a liberal sense to include cutting,press ing, or otherwise making impressions in the wax bed.

The time saving element incident to the operation of my apparatus is, initself, and aside from the superiority of the product a very marked stepin the advancement in the art of making electrotypes.

What I claim'is:

' 1. An electrotype mold comprising a glass face plate, and an engravedwax body applied thereto, the engraved lines being cut through the waxbed to the surface of said glass face plate and exposing the glass atthe bottom of the engraved lines.

2. An electrotype mold comprising a face plate of hard non-metallicsubstance that is a non-conductor of electricity, an engraved wax bedapplied to said face plate, the engraved lines being cut through saidwax bed to the surface of said face plate.

3. An electrotype mold comprising a glass face plate having a groundsurface, a thin permanent adhesive coating on said ground surface, andan engraved wax bed applied on said coating.

4. An electrotype mold comprising a glass face plate having a ground orsanded surto one part of ozokerite wax directly applied to the groundsurface of said plate, and an engraved wax bed consisting ofapproximately one ounce of ozo compound to one pound of ozokerite waxdirectly applied on said thin permanent coating.

5. The process defined in claim 4 in which said thin permanent coatingconsists of ozo compound and ozokerite wax in substantially theproportions of six parts of the former to one part of the latter, and inwhich said wax bed consists of ozo compound and ozokerite wax inapproximately the proportions of two ounces of the former and one poundof the latter.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

face, a thin permanent coating consisting of approximately six parts ofozo compound JOSEPH KNITTL'E.

